Where Soul Meets Body
by ArmedWithAPen
Summary: Long before the Clone Wars' inception, a young Togruta Padawan finds herself lost on a strange, backwater planet, with no one but a mysterious rifleman for company. If only she had asked his name. Shaak Ti/Grievous friendship, at least. Update: Now in new bite-sized pieces!
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: Originally intended as a prologue for a multi-chap. But then it turned into twenty-six pages and I thought it deserved its own story. Enjoy! :) _

_**Updated **__A/N: Based on a tremendously helpful review from years ago, I'm finally cutting this twenty-six page monstrosity into several, more manageable chapters. Seriously, twenty-six? Ay me, the mistakes of youth. Going to do my best not to mess with original content (no matter how cringe-worthy) but grammar is fair game. _

**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing! Except the idea. Dang. X( **

_**I want to live where soul meets body  
><strong>__**And let the Sun wrap its arms around me  
><strong>__**And bathe my skin in water cool and cleansing  
><strong>__**And feel, feel what it's like to be new**_

_**- Death Cab for Cutie**_

* * *

><p><strong>I<strong>

Someday, in perhaps a billion years, there was a chance she might lose her training.

Someday, she might forget the ancient rules and regulations governing the archaic Jedi way of living.

Someday, she might forget everything her master had taught her, the art of a lightsaber, the skill of the Force.

Someday, she might even cease to remember how it felt to be a Jedi altogether.

But one thing she was very sure of—she would never forget the very first rule she had ever been taught.

_Fear nothing. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, and hate leads to suffering. Never be afraid. _

And she tried. She tried everything her sixteen-year-old mind could think of to keep the fear from rising in her throat, to chain the anxiety she could feel below the surface taking liquid form in the cold sweat coating her red skin.

But when one finds themselves running lost and lone through an alien jungle, fighting fear is a very difficult task.

The young Togruta had been running through the dense vegetation for what felt like miles, attempting to find a flat area or a plain where she could sufficiently gather her bearings and perhaps her scattered thoughts. She had been sure she wasn't straying far from her master's campsite. She had only gone a few meters into the forest, just to investigate the trees, the plants, the strange insects fluttering around like gems in the wind. She hadn't meant to go quite so far. But a vibrant flower had caught her attention, and when it had _moved…_ She simply _had _to follow it!

And now she was definitely paying the price for her curiosity. Dusk was coming on swiftly, and the girl had a very sure feeling that the jungle would prove treacherous at night.

Lungs screaming for air and heart pounding, she could run no longer. She fell against the nearest mossy tree, gasping for breath and clutching her chest.

"Oh, why didn't I listen to Master Pru Jinn when I had the chance?" she groaned, putting a hand to the throbbing stich in her side as she fumbled in her pocket for her communicator. She hadn't been able to get a signal in the forest, but in this small clearing, there might be a chance…

She opened the link. "Master Jinn? Master, this is Padawan Shaak Ti. Repeat, this is Shaak Ti, do you copy? Master, please respond!"

Nothing but static.

With a frustrated snarl, she stuffed the communicator back into the tattered remnants of her skirt. Thorns had made quick work of the brown fabric. "Of course. For all I know, I could be running around in circles. This is a fine mess. A fine mess indeed. Now I'm out here, alone, with nobody around for miles."

_Ribbitt. _

She jumped, whirled towards the sound, and found herself face to face with a small pair of mottled orange eyes sitting on the large tree root next to her.

She snorted. "Very well, I stand corrected. Nobody around but a frog."

_Ribbitt. _Her companion chirped and sprang lightly from the root to a large heart-shaped leaf closer to her leg in order to better access the gnats buzzing around her face.

"So glad I could provide your dinner," she smirked as the creature snapped its long slimy tongue at the insects. "Don't suppose you know a way out of here, do you?"

The frog paused, looked at her, licked its eye, and then returned to its evening meal.

"I didn't suppose so." She sighed and folded her arms into her torn robes. Despite the steaming jungle air, she was suddenly freezing. She fingered the long Padawan chain dangling from her akul tooth headdress. "Master Jinn is going to kill me. If he finds me. I hope he finds me. I've been gone for a couple of hours, he should have organized a search party, shouldn't he?"

She turned toward the frog, who gave no answer. Having finished off the gnats, it was apparently busying itself with cleaning its toes. She shook her head and gazed back into the dense forest. "It was stupid of me to go chasing after that flower like some silly youngling. But it's amazing! Have you ever heard of a flower that _moved? _Incredible! I guess it moves to chase after sunlight at the bottom of the jungle. The other trees are too tall for it to stay in one place, so it moves! Isn't it amazing?"

If the frog thought so, it didn't say anything. It croaked with satisfaction upon completing its cleaning and hopped up onto one of her short striped montrals to better access the moss lice on the tree.

Shaak Ti looked around her at the jungle, gilded with the late afternoon sunlight. The air smelled like humid life, everything moist and living and growing. The treetops above whispered gently with the wind. "What's this planet called? Kalee, I think. You know, this place would be beautiful if I wasn't lost. And cold. And hungry." She glanced at the little green frog with a wide grin. "You're not edible, are you? Maybe with a little salt? Some pepper?"

Suddenly, the frog froze. It stared for a moment at the vegetation to her left, before it suddenly leapt from her montrals, pounced into the bushes, and began hopping away as though its life depended on it.

"Hey, wait! Don't go!" The frog hadn't made a very talkative companion, but it had been better than nothing. Dismayed, Shaak Ti jumped up to give chase. "I was only kidding."

That's when she realized. Something was dreadfully wrong.

All around her, the birds, the insects, and the tiny chirps of various animals had vanished. The forest was still and silent. Nothing moved, and nothing breathed.

Shaak Ti stood stone still, violet eyes wide open, lips parted as she drew in a silent gasp. She grew as still as she possibly could, stretching out with the Force and her pressure-sensitive montrals, listening, feeling for anything that might be out there. In a flash, the jungle that had seemed so awe-inspiring, so beautiful, so magnificent was a gladiator ring of danger.

There was no sound for a moment. She wished she could quiet her pounding heart. It sounded like it was echoing for miles in the silent jungle.

The bushes to her left shifted.

She slowly turned her head. And what she saw made all traces of the _no fear _rule fly right out into the wind.

An enormous four-legged beast stood before her, half-camouflaged in the shadows. Its mottled brown hide was thick and wrinkly like leather, and its huge paws had claws the size of daggers. Long strings of drool dripped from glistening fangs, and a pair of pupil-less orange eyes blazed out at her from deep, sunken sockets in its long, narrow skull.

It was a frightening sight to behold.

But what was even more frightening was that the eyes were fixated on her, and the jaws the beast licked with a lazy red tongue appeared to have her name written all over them.

As the creature lowered itself to the ground, shifting its shoulders in preparation for a final pounce, Shaak Ti only had one thing to say.

"Oh, Force…"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Updated <strong>__A/N: I remember my beta telling me to cut the frog scene, but I was too attached to the little guy to let him go. Now, it reminds me of the Worm from Labyrinth. "You don't happen to know the way through this labyrinth, do you?" "Who, me? Nah, I'm just a worm." _


	2. Chapter 2

'_**Cause in my head there's a Greyhound station  
><strong>__**Where I send my thoughts to far-off destinations  
><strong>__**So they may have a chance of finding a place where they're  
><strong>__**Far more suited than here**_

_**- Death Cab for Cutie**_

* * *

><p><strong>II<strong>

The beast lunged with a wild growl, jaws wide enough to bite her in half with one quick snap. Just by the skin of her teeth, Shaak Ti dropped low to the ground, rolled, and sprang to her feet in one lithe motion. She took off into the woods. Behind her, she could hear the crash of leaf litter and thunder as the monster landed on the spot where she used to be, and then vicious panting and footsteps as the beast gave chase.

_I'm alright, _she assured herself as she dodged through the quick forest. _I'm okay. It can't possibly catch me, it's way too big to move around the forest. _

Her confident musings were swiftly destroyed as she looked behind her to find the beast hot on her tail, simply knocking down the trees unfortunate enough to stand in its way.

_I'm dead. _

Calling on the Force, the young Padawan sprinted through the thick jungle with all her might, nothing more than a red blur through the underbrush. But always right behind her was the drooling monster, muscles rippling beneath its skin as it galloped after its prey.

Shaak Ti was losing strength. Using her montrals, she managed to make out a vague picture of what appeared to be a small clearing in the middle of the jungle. She would have to make a stand and fight.

She peeled out of the forest, stumbling into the small clearing as she fumbled for her lightsaber. But just as she managed to get the weapon in her palm, the monster burst out of the tree line right after her, and without skipping a beat, it flung out a huge paw and swiped the girl off her bare feet.

With a grunt, Shaak Ti hit the ground. Stars flashed in front of her eyes as she struggled to regain her breath. She looked up just in time to scramble out of the way of the creature, who had charged headlong into an enormous tree that had previously been its dinner's position. Shaking its head, the beast regained composure and slowly began to circle the Padawan.

Shaak Ti stood tall and smirked as she raised her hand. "Not so fast, my friend! Behold, I am a Jed…i…"

She stared in confusion at her empty palms. Her lightsaber was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh, no."

Snarling viciously, the monster charged. Thinking quickly, Shaak Ti latched hold of a fallen tree branch through the Force and swung it like a club onto the beast's thin head. It gave a startled yelp, but when Shaak Ti came around for another swing, it reached up, grasped the limb in its enormous jaws, and crushed it into powder.

Shaak Ti was a goner, and she knew it. Of all the times to lose her lightsaber…

There it was! In the fading sunlight, she could see it glinting like a silver savior amidst the vegetation right behind the monster. Quickly, she called on it with a sharp tug of the Force, but apparently, the predator had been learning. Without even looking, the monster stabbed its foot on the small cylinder, stopping it dead in its tracks. And then, with a sneer of accomplishment, the beast crushed the lightsaber beneath its foot.

Shaak Ti lowered her hand with a horrified expression. She was going to die. She was going to be eaten by this monster before her. She would never be a Jedi. She would never see her Master again.

On the last remaining bit of sheer instinct, Shaak Ti stumbled backward to run, but she tripped over a bit of the crushed tree limb and sprawled backwards. She felt a sharp pain in her ankle, and a rush of white splintered behind her eyes.

A sprain.

There was no way she was escaping now.

With a triumphant roar, the beast thundered towards her, drool glistening on its jaws, eyes bright with anticipation. It raised a paw towards the helpless Padawan on the ground, ready to deal the killing blow. Shaak Ti closed her eyes and raised a hand.

_BDAM! _

The shot echoed through the jungle like a sharp crack bouncing between the trees.

Shaak Ti blinked. The noise was out of place. Did one usually hear a gunshot when one died?

Slowly, hesitantly, she opened her eyes. Her pulse still hammered away in her chest, she still gasped ragged pants of air, and her dilated eyes still stared straight up at the red sky above the canopy of the trees.

Well, she was still alive.

Slowly, she turned her head to the right. Beside her lay the hulking mass of the predator on its side, its barrel chest heaving wheezed breaths, its eyelids trembling and its massive jaws wide and despondent. At first, she flinched away. The thing could still be dangerous. But then she noticed that across its right shoulder was a collection of bleeding holes from which oozed a black liquid that smelled like a mix of chemicals and iron.

The beast was no longer a threat.

A noise to her left made her spin away from her would-be killer. She grabbed the first thing she touched, the half-crushed tree limb that had almost killed her, and raised it above her head, turning to face the noise.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Shaak Ti froze, the club raised above her head, and stared down the muzzle of a long, sinister-looking rifle. She didn't recognize the weapon. It looked old enough to belong to the Sith Age.

But it was usually what was behind the weapon that posed a bigger problem.

Shaak Ti's violet eyes cautiously made their way up the long black steel of the rifle, over the red-scaled hands that held it, and finally up into the face of the weapon's handler.

Or rather, the lack of the face.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Updated <strong>__A/N: Sammael from Hellboy is basically what I imagined for the creature attempting to eat our heroine. That being said, I have no idea what a mumuu actually looks like. Some of us aren't fortunate enough to have access to Star Wars comics (WHY GOD WHY), and forays into the Internet revealed nothing. *shock* There _is _something you can't find on the web…_


	3. Chapter 3

_**And I cannot guess what we'll discover  
><strong>__**When we turn the dirt with our palms cupped like shovels  
><strong>__**But I know our filthy hands can wash one another's  
><strong>__**And not one speck will remain**_

_**- Death Cab for Cutie**_

* * *

><p><strong>III<strong>

The creature was wearing a bone white skull mask. The only trace of life behind the bone was a pair of flaming golden eyes, black pupils reptilian slits in the fire.

And to a girl, lost, alone, and almost dinner to a monster, it was terrifying.

"Who are you?" the alien demanded in a low, guttural voice. "What are you doing here? What do you want?"

Each phrase was punctuated by a threatening jerk of the rifle. Shaak Ti dropped her club, raised a hand in surrender, and scooted backwards, answering quickly, "M-My name is Shaak Ti. Please, I mean you no harm."

The rifle-handler's eyes narrowed behind his (she was fairly certain it was male) mask, but he lowered the rifle. "Get up. And get out of the way."

She shot to her feet, swallowing the pain in her ankle, stumbled backwards, and quickly lurched behind him just as he shouldered the rifle, took aim, and shot again into the monstrous creature on the ground.

The crack rang through the jungle like lightning. The beast shuddered once, gave a defeated yelp, and then grew still, its red tongue lolling out of its mouth.

Without another word to the Togruta behind him, the rifleman slung the weapon over his back into a holster and approached the dead animal. Shaak Ti was glad for his intervention, sure that she would have otherwise become dinner for the beast, but she was slightly taken aback by the second shot.

"That was rather unnecessary, wasn't it?" she piped up disapprovingly as the rifleman stooped to feel the pulse of the monster. "It would have died soon anyway."

"Mumuu have two hearts," he answered, rising again from his crouched position with a satisfied nod. "A hunter must stop both from beating."

As he rose, Shaak Ti was able to finally get a good look at him. He stood about six feet tall and appeared even taller wearing a long brown cape. He had long glossy black hair tied back in a braid that fell to the middle of his back, and wore a white head-wrap over the rest of it. Of course, across his back, he carried the rifle, and around his middle he wore what appeared to be belts of ammunition. And every inch of him was covered in red scales.

He was quite an interesting character.

"I almost lost this kill because of you," he muttered, looking on pensively at the dead remains of the mumuu. "I was up in the tree when you stumbled in. It would have been fine if you had stayed put, I had a clear shot. Then you up and decided to run…"

Shaak Ti blinked, her mouth falling open in utter surprise. "Well, excuse me for not feeling like muumuu bait today! I—"

"Who are you?" he repeated again, glancing back at her sharply. "What are you doing out here? How did you even get out here?"

"Like I said, my name is Shaak Ti," she said, dusting off her plain maroon dress and brown tunic. As for what I'm doing out here, I'm afraid I'm rather lost, and as for how I got out here, same as you, I walked. Well, ran, I suppose."

He turned to face her and looked her up and down appraisingly. She got the distinctive feeling like she was being scanned by some funny machine that could see straight into her soul. Uncomfortable, she shifted. "Take a holograph, it'll last longer."

"You're lost?" He put his fists on his hips and jerked his head in a direction to his right. "You're from the Jedi camp, aren't you?"

It was very unnerving to hear someone speak to you and yet not be able to see their mouth moving. But the rifleman's words gave her tremendous hope.

"Yes, yes! I am! Can you take me there?" Joy rose in her chest…

"No."

…and was quickly squashed again. She stared at him. "What? Why not?"

"Simple—I'd like to make it through the day in as few pieces as possible." The rifleman turned back to the carcass and revealed a glittering knife from a leather sheath on his belt. He deftly hacked off a leg and a long section of ribs, explaining, "That camp is all the way across the jungle. Quite a walk. Night's coming on fast, and if you're smart, you won't hang around. If you thought a muumuu was dangerous…"

Right on cue, a distant but nonetheless eerie howl split the evening, and Shaak Ti's blood ran cold.

He wiped the blade on a patch of grass and slung the two hunks of meat over his shoulder. "Anyway, farewell and good luck."

Without another word, he strode past her and melted into the jungle.

Oh, no. She was not going to be left in some alien jungle with only her amateur Force skills and his good luck as her protection.

"Hey, wait!" Shaak Ti began to give a limping chase, pivoted quickly to grab her lightsaber crystal from the grass, and then picked her way after him into the dense forest. "Wait, stop!"

He paused, turning his skull mask towards her, his yellow eyes glinting with what was barely-disguised amusement. "Forget something?"

She was too proud to say anything, and nonchalantly pretended to examine a stain on her robes.

She apparently didn't need to explain. The rifleman's eyes sparkled as though he was grinning beneath his mask. "Hungry?"

"Not especially," she began, but with a loud indignant growl, her stomach quickly overruled her. She flushed.

He chuckled deeply and jerked his head towards the cliff, disguised by moss, just to their right. "C'mon. I'll start a fire and then we can eat."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Update <strong>__A/N: Part of me really wanted to go blue-people "Avatar" with him; "They did not need to die!" followed by "Come, let me take you to my people, and after a long training montage which skips through the boring character-building parts, we can have tree-sex." YAY TREE-SEX! _


	4. Chapter 4

_**Update **__A/N: Just so you brace yourself. This one's a slog. I tried splitting it up into two pieces, but nothing I did to it felt right. Go get a cup of tea and find a nice chair. _

_**I do believe it's true  
><strong>__**That there are roads left in both of our shoes  
><strong>__**But if the silence takes you  
><strong>__**Well, I hope it takes me, too**_

_**- Death Cab for Cutie**_

* * *

><p><strong>IV<strong>

Not five minutes later, sixteen-year-old Shaak Ti found herself secluded in a shallow cave halfway up the side of a cliff, with a roaring fire in front of her, a perfectly cooked rib in her hands, her pained ankle stretched out in front of her, and a strange companion standing at the mouth of their hiding place, looking out at the darkening sky.

"It smells like rain," he commented, dropping his hand from where it leaned on the stone, and turning back towards the fire.

"Is that a good thing?" she muttered through a mouthful of meat. Togruta were predators by nature, and her sharp teeth made quick work of the tasty flesh.

The rifleman shrugged. "If it rains at night, it should keep the biting flies at bay and the animals in their dens. If it continues on into the morning, I'm afraid you might have to wait before you start towards camp."

She paused mid-chew. "Wait, just 'you?' Not 'we?'"

He sat across from her on the opposite side of the fire. "Listen, female, I've done more than my fair share of keeping you alive. I shot the mumuu, made a fire, carried you and your swollen ankle up this cliff, and gave you something to eat. You can get back to camp on your own."

Shaak Ti thought about this. She hadn't been able to find her way back before, but then again, she had been lonely, hungry, and scared. Tomorrow morning she'd be refreshed, rejuvenated, and probably quite able to make her way back to camp.

"I hope the others haven't started looking for me," she murmured quietly, looking out into the night as a lightning flash illuminated the indigo sky.

"So do I, for their sakes," the rifleman snorted from across the fire. "Either they'll be eaten by animals or they'll be soaked by the monsoons. I'm sure your foolishness does your Master proud."

The insult struck home. More than anything, Shaak Ti hated being called foolish. Even if she did deserve it. She put down her fifth rib and fixed the rifleman with a glare. "How do you know I have a Master? For all you know, I could be a Jedi Master myself."

"Firstly, you could never be a Jedi Master. You got lost," he answered with another amused snort. "Secondly, you seem very young to be a Master, very young and inexperienced. Thirdly, you have a long chain on your headdress, and I suppose this represents something like a Padawan braid. And fourthly…" He paused for a moment and poked at the fire with a stick. "You don't have that frigidness around you that most Jedi do. You still have what feels like a soul."

The last sentence made Shaak Ti blush. It felt good to hear, but she quickly jumped to the Jedi's defense. "It's just the lack of emotion. Jedi aren't supposed to feel or we lose our focus."

"And that's where I become disillusioned with your order," the rifleman frowned, turning the spit upon which rested the mumuu leg. "It seems to me that passion is what drives good warriors to fight and to crave victory. Not cold, calculating unfeeling."

Shaak Ti shrugged. "It's what separates us from the Dark Side."

The rifleman grunted and stared for a moment into the fire.

Shaak Ti looked at him hard. He looked young, maybe a few years older than she was, but the mask kept her from being able to tell for sure. How could she get him to remove that mask…

She nodded towards the collection of smoked ribs stacked on a flat rock next to the roaring fire. "Aren't you hungry?"

He shook his head. "Eat. I am not hungry."

But she had eaten her fill and wasn't hungry either. "I'm full. You cook well."

His eyes seemed to smile. "Glad to hear it."

Conversation lapsed for a moment, broken only by a clap of thunder and the rifleman's quiet words: "Here it comes." No sooner had he spoken that the clouds burst open, and hammering rains began to pound into the Kalee soil.

Shaak Ti glanced at him. "You are Kaleesh?"

"Yes." He looked at her with another glint of amusement in his eyes. "What was your first clue? That I live here?"

"No need to be rude," Shaak Ti grumbled, crossing her arms in her cloak. "I wanted to be sure."

"Well, then, yes, to answer your question, I am Kaleesh." The rifleman shrugged a shoulder in her direction. "Where are you from?"

"Shili. I'm Togruta."

"Shili?" The Kaleesh tapped his chin. "A Republican savannah world, if I'm not mistaken. I've heard stories. Is it beautiful?"

Shaak Ti lowered her eyes to her lap, wringing her red fingers together. "I…I don't remember."

He paused. "I'm sorry."

"No, no, it's fine, it's…" Small tears pricked behind her eyes, but she quickly rubbed them away with the heels of her hands. "Force-sensitive children are, of course, taken from their families at a very young age. None of us really remember our…our homeworlds."

She stared into the glowing ember heart of the fire, and silence stretched between them.

"Will you be able to go back?"

"Oh, I've been back." Shaak Ti reached behind her montrals and removed her sparse headdress. "When I was twelve, I went back with the other Togruta Jedi. Working together, we caught an akul, and I got my share of the teeth."

She handed the crown over, and he took it in his red hands, examining the small chain and teeth that seemed too big for her forehead.

"But it was a long time ago," Shaak Ti continued. "I don't remember anything. I'll go back when I turn eighteen. Marrying age. I'll have a ceremony."

"Jedi don't marry."

"No, but I'll have a ceremony just for archaic reasons," she explained, taking the headdress he handed back. "Just to show that I'm of marrying age, and any young eligible bachelors can ask for me. Even if they can't have me."

The Kaleesh chuckled. "Unfortunate fools."

Shaak Ti glanced up sharply. "Why do you say that?"

He paused as he tended to the fire and stared at her incredulously. "Even a blind man can see that you are beautiful, Shaak Ti."

She had nothing to say to that. Nothing to say and nothing to do except to lower her eyelashes and fight in vain a deep red blush that painted her white cheeks. "Thank you," she murmured quietly and shyly.

His eyes glittered and he shrugged. "Only the truth."

"Are you?"

"Am I what?"

She paused, licking her lips a little before asking quietly, "Betrothed?"

"Not yet." He shook his head and glanced at the rain pounding outside the cave. "Not for a while. I am still too young."

"Oh!" For some ridiculous reason, the admission made her smile, and her heart fluttered a little in her chest. She quickly squashed it and cleared her throat, asking with a little more composure, "How young?"

"I'll be nineteen by the next dry season," he answered. He shot her a pointed smile behind his mask. "Why? Interested?"

She bristled at his impudence, but the blush on her cheeks was a dead giveaway. "Don't be silly. Jedi, remember?"

"Ah, yes, I forgot." He smirked.

"Speaking of which," she continued, eager to change the subject. "How do you know so much about Jedi? Were you trained?"

Even from behind the mask, she could tell his expression soured. "You don't live on Kalee without knowing about the Jedi," he growled with a tangible sense of hatred. "And the Huk."

"The Huk?" Shaak Ti blinked her surprise. "What's the Huk?"

"Soulless bugs." The Kaleesh's frame shuddered as though he was remembering something repulsive. "They reside on the neighboring planet, rich in every resource Kalee lacks: advanced weapons, advanced ships…the only area in which we outmaneuver them is strategy. They may have technology, but we are far more intelligent."

"Why so hostile?" Shaak Ti was puzzled. Kalee had the fortune to be located next to a resource-rich planet, and they were not taking advantage of it. In fact, the entire relationship between these Huk and the Kaleesh sounded terrible. She folded her hands in her robe, attempting to look the picture of Jedi peace and compromise. "This other planet has the resources, and you have the skill. It seems that your neighbors might make a great ally."

His reaction almost knocked her over.

"Don't you _dare _insinuate that we'd ever ally ourselves with those monsters!" he roared, whirling toward her in a flurry of robes and jangling ammunition. "The Kaleesh would rather die a thousand deaths than call ourselves friends of the Huk!"

Shaak Ti blinked, stunned. The rifleman had stormed the considerable distance between them in one long stride and was now flaming above her like an angry demi-god. He looked so powerful that she cowered slightly beneath his arms. But her strong streak quickly prevailed, and she sat ramrod straight, fixing him with a stern eye.

"Peace, my friend," she commanded quietly. "I meant no insult. My apologies."

His hands twitched above her montrals, as though seriously considering strangling the life out of her, but apparently, sense prevailed. With a disgusted snort, he whirled away and stormed back towards the mouth of the cave.

Shaak Ti winced. She truly had meant no insult. She hadn't realized it was such a touchy subject for him.

"I truly am sorry," she ventured quietly, as humbly as she could manage. "I didn't mean to offend you."

His stiff shoulders appeared to soften, and she quickly continued, relieved.

"These Huk…what did they do to you to make you hate them so completely?"

There was a slight pause. Rain pattered gently against the cliff face, and the cold water streamed in small waterfalls over the entrance to their hiding place. The rifleman's shoulders trembled slightly, but he steeled them sturdy before he turned to give her an answer.

"Slavery," he said, allowing his arm to drop from the side of the cave. "The Huk pride Kaleesh as slaves for their factories, homes, workshops. We're yanked from our homeworld and forced into their service. The lucky ones die in battle, or quickly after their capture."

Shaak Ti stared in amazement. "Slavery?"

He nodded solemnly, returning to warm himself by the campfire.

The young Togruta couldn't believe it. Slavery hadn't been heard of in the Republic for years. "Surely you could appeal to the Senate," she whispered, astounded that such a thought hadn't occurred to them before. "The Republic wouldn't stand for this."

"The Republic doesn't exist out here," he corrected her with a sour expression in his eyes. He moodily prodded a branch in the fire. "And even if it did, do you think they'd want to salvage a world as technologically backwards as Kalee?"

"Of course!" Shaak Ti proclaimed proudly, spreading her arms wide in a gesture of openness. "The Republic stands for universal freedom and equality! We fight for rights for everyone!"

There was an awkward pause. The rifleman merely stared at her with a bored expression, and Shaak Ti slowly lowered her arms, stating more quietly, "I'm sure if you brought your case before the Senate, they would help you somehow."

Another long pause. He turned his head to the side, shook it once with a small chuckle, and then began to laugh.

"Something amusing?"

"You," he answered, flashing her a disbelieving gaze. "Your naivety is refreshing, young Jedi. Foolish, but refreshing."

"I'm not being naïve!" she gingerly crossed her legs beneath her robes, and crossed her arms over her chest. "It's the Republic's duty to help people like you! And even if the Senate didn't do anything, the Jedi council would! I…I could bring your case for you! Well, when I become a knight, I would."

He shook his head. "By the time you become a knight, Shaak Ti, our world will have already fallen into war. You cannot stop time."

"But fighting isn't the answer," she frowned. "War doesn't lead to peace."

"It might." He raised his eyes to hers. "If we fight, we might destroy the Huk and end their reign of tyranny on this world."

"Revenge is not the answer either," she corrected sharply, folding her arms into her robes.

"Spoken like a true Jedi," he growled, waving at her with a glowing piece of wood. "Revenge might not be the answer for you peace-loving hypocrites, safe behind the walls of your massive temple on glittering Coruscant, but in the real world, it is the only way for any of us lowly mortal creatures to survive."

Silence reigned in the cave. Thunder stormed outside, but inside, the storm was beginning to fade.

His words stung, but some part of Shaak Ti knew them to be true.

"I suppose there is truth in what you say. I know nothing of your life here," she began gently, "and it must be hard. I apologize. I cannot make judgments where I have no experience."

He looked at her, his golden eyes piercing behind the skull mask, and he stared right through as though trying to ascertain whether she spoke the truth or if she was mocking him. Coming to a conclusion, his eyes softened. "I'm glad you understand. Few off-worlders do."

She smiled at him shyly, and, for the first time since meeting him, reached out through the Force to find his deep red Force-signature vibrating like a caged animal, excited, but passive for the moment. She sensed much fear, loss, and anger hidden below the surface, but for now, the overlying emotion she could feel was a confused whirl of anticipation, excitement, and nervousness. She had never felt the emotion before. And when he spared her another smile with his eyes, her own grin broadened, and in response, he quickly turned his face away, the emotional soup fluttering unsteadily with happiness.

"It's getting late," he commented softly, examining a spot on his cape. "You should probably get some sleep."

She almost replied that she wasn't tired, but when a wide yawn interrupted, she silently agreed. Lying on her side, she pillowed her montrals on her arm and watched as the rifleman tended one last time to the fire.

"Do you think," she began softly, her voice mixing with the crackling flames, "In another time, we would have been friends?"

He glanced at her sharply, again, searching her face for any sign of treachery. It vaguely hurt her feelings that he was so distrusting of her, but then again, the feeling vanished when his eyes softened with an unseen smile.

"Friends, definitely," he answered with a slight nod of his head. "And, if I had my way," he continued with glittering amusement in his eyes, "lovers, too."

She threw a rock at him, which he ducked with a laugh.

"No need to be hostile, I'm only telling the truth," he chortled, spreading his cape on the earth. "You belong to me in my culture, I saved your life."

"I had everything under control," she argued stiffly. "I didn't need saving."

He chuckled as she turned her back to him. "I'll remember that next time I see a mumuu about to crush you with its paw."

Next time.

Would there be a next time?

She shook her head, trying to rid the sadness from her heart. She would never see her friend again, of that much she was certain. Even if she stayed on-world with her Master just a few more cycles, he would never be allowed to visit her, and she would never be able to sneak out to see him. After this little escapade, she wouldn't be surprised if her Master kept her under twenty-four hour surveillance.

"I don't think there'll be a next time, my friend," she whispered quietly.

He said nothing, and some part of her hoped that he didn't hear her over the roar of the fire, or that he was already asleep.

No such luck. He sighed softly and she heard his cloak rustle as he adjusted positions. "I know."

The rain outside continued to pound against the cliff face, but inside, the cave was warm, and she could distinctly hear each of their breathing, easing in and out of their lungs.

"Listen, I…" she began, but he interrupted with a quick, "Go to sleep, Jedi. I'll be here in the morning."

She hesitated. There was still so much she wanted to say to her new friend. But perhaps it was for the best.

"Very well," she murmured, cuddling deeper into her cloak. "Good night…"

He didn't answer, and she didn't know whether it was from willful ignorance or he was already asleep. Either way, she didn't have much time to ponder it. Slowly, she drifted off to a dreamless sleep, and didn't wake again until the next morning.

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><p><em><strong>Update <strong>__A/N: Well, at least that's over. But he's a very charming rifleman, isn't he? The same amazing reviewer that recommended I split the twenty-six page monstrosity also pointed out the fact that Shaak seems to gain her companion's trust relatively easier here than we might expect, given these characters' histories. Ehhh…yes. The only excuse I can give myself is that here he's young, inexperienced compared to what he goes through later, and maybe figures a gimped-up Padawan sans lightsaber isn't a threat? Anyway, this definitely deserves an epic rewrite, delving deeper into their relationship. But another time, not 1 AM, maybe. Heh. _


	5. Chapter 5

_**So, brown eyes, I'll hold you near  
><strong>_'_**Cause you're the only song I want to hear  
><strong>__**A melody softly soaring through my atmosphere**_

_**- Death Cab for Cutie**_

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><p><strong>V<strong>

The smell of another fire tickled her nose as she gradually came to, and she opened her blinking eyes to the sight of sunlight streaming in through the cave.

"So, you're finally up, are you, Dreaming Beauty?" the rifleman's voice greeted her. She looked up sharply to see him already garbed in his ammunition and cloak, standing over a smoldering fire with a spinning rack of ribs. "Have breakfast. I'm going to scout for a while, and then we can leave for your camp."

He was gone for twenty minutes, more than enough time for Shaak Ti to finish her breakfast and prepare to leave. As she adjusted her cloak, she felt something suddenly sharp in her pocket. She pulled it out with a curious glance. Her blue lightsaber crystal shimmered back at her in response.

It was a shame that they were so different, she and the rifleman. In another time, she was very certain that they would have been great friends. But as things stood now…

She frowned, heard some rocks clattering together as her rescuer began to climb up the cliff wall, and quickly stowed the crystal back into her pocket.

He stuck his wrapped head over the lip of the cave. "Are you ready to leave?"

"Yes."

"Then let's go. And I hope your ankle's better, because there is no chance I am dragging you all the way back down this cliff."

The swelling had gone down during the night, and with only minimal discomfort, the young Togruta managed her way down the cliff side. At the bottom, the rifleman waited for her and helped her from the rock without a word.

In similar silence, the two plunged into the forest, trekking back through the plants without a noise between them.

Shaak Ti couldn't guess at what her companion was thinking. She could only know that she herself was feeling a surprising amount of sadness. This could very well be the last time she would see him, this alien man who had saved her life, guided her, sheltered her, spoken with her about so many things.

She curled her fingers around the crystal in her pocket. _Not yet. Wait for a moment. _

They walked together for an hour or so, brushing past the leaves, wet from last night's healing rain. Once or twice, he wordlessly waited for her as she and her limping ankle attempted to navigate through a particularly malicious area of underbrush. During these moments, she attempted to gauge what he was feeling behind the skull mask and the golden eyes, but he only turned his head away when she met his gaze, and her efforts were fruitless.

Finally, she began to recognize the woodlands. She was approaching her camp. Sure enough, they began to see light coming through the branches of the trees, and a small group of white tents in the distance.

"This is where we must part company," the rifleman spoke for the first time since the start of the journey. "I'm sure you can find your way from here, can't you?"

She nodded wordlessly. Excitement had risen in her throat at the sight of her Master's familiar campsite, but at the words, "part company," she felt her heart sink.

"Farewell, Shaak Ti," he muttered. "I wish you all happiness in the life you have chosen."

He began to move away, back into the forest. But she couldn't let him leave. At least, not without one last thing.

She grasped his arm before he had a chance to fully escape. "Wait."

He paused and looked down at her with his vivid golden stare. She looked back into his eyes for what she was sure was the last time and allowed a tiny spark of her soul to color her gaze, making sure he could see that not all Jedi were emotionless hypocrites.

"I want you to have this," she said, sliding her vivid red hand down his forearm to his palm and pressing the cool blue crystal between their skin.

She let her fingers fall away and watched as his eyes lit up with wonder at the glowing stone. "What's this?"

"To remember me," she explained, feeling her cheeks heat up. "I won't ever forget this, forget _you_, and just…I want to make sure that you don't forget me."

He stared at the crystal with wide eyes before lifting his gaze to hers. "It would take nothing short of brain surgery to ever make me forget you, Shaak Ti."

She ducked her head, praying he didn't notice the glow in her cheeks. "Maybe not, but…you will keep it, won't you?"

"It's the most precious gift any friend has ever given me," he replied with a smile. "I'll never forget you, Jedi, never in a lifetime."

It was a piecrust promise—easily made, easily broken—but she allowed herself to believe it just the same. "I will fight for your people. I promise. These atrocities won't go on."

He shook his head with another gentle look in his eyes. "You are young, Shaak Ti. We both are. We will change, I know we will, and neither of us can change our destinies. But all the same…I'm glad to have met you."

"And you," she smiled. She wanted to say more, but she couldn't find the words. She began to back away into the trees towards camp, where she could hear the faint sounds of her Master calling her name. "Until we meet again, may the Force be with you."

He tipped his head, slipped the crystal into a pocket of his belt, and bid her, "Farewell, Shaak Ti. My friend."

Then, he melted away into the forest.

She stood there, looking after him for a long while before she suddenly realized she had never even asked his name.

Thirty minutes later, the rifleman was making his way back towards his village, feeling the warm blue crystal glow in his pocket. What would he do with the gem? For now, he had nothing in mind, but he had a feeling an idea would come to him later.

He heard a roar and looked to the sky to watch as a Jedi Starfighter rose into the air and disappeared in a flash of light, carrying with it the young Jedi female who had given him a fleeting moment of hope.

"Goodbye, Shaak Ti," he said quietly to the forest. "I hope we might meet again, under different circumstances, and I hope we can still be friends."

With that, the young Qymaen jai Sheelal turned with a sweep of his cape, and a lightsaber crystal in his pocket, and vanished into the trees.

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><p><em>AN: Lots of time-line errors probably. Some reference issues. Shaak Ti was probably older even before the Huk wars started, but hey, that would've screwed up the story! XP Please review and point out my mistakes! _

_**Updated **__A/N: Well, _that_ is this labor of love finished. I didn't realize they had disabled copy/paste on this site, and I thus had to retype this entire thing (I have no idea where the original is, some dusty hard drive in a desk drawer somewhere). But all the effort just reminded me of how much I am still in love with this crackmess of a ship. Lord. They need their own AU where the pair of them just travel the galaxy fighting injustice together (as suggested by several wonderful reviewers over the years). _

_And speaking of reviewers: you guys. Seriously. I reread the feedback after I finished typing this up, thinking, "Does anybody even _like _this one?" and holy cow. Just. Words cannot describe. My sincerest gratitude to each and every one of you. I do have some nebulous plans for Qymaen and Shaak floating around in my brain. Don't know when they'll be posted (if ever), but my humblest thanks to all of you. You make this all worthwhile. _


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